Goffin, Sousa into Moselle Open final

Joao Sousa stands in the way of David Goffin securing a second ATP title of the year after both made the Moselle Open final.

Goffin made it 33 wins from his past 35 matches at all levels by seeing off Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets on Saturday, while Sousa was too strong for home favourite Gael Monfils in Metz.

Having sent top seed and last year’s runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga out on Friday, Goffin continued his impressive form to move past Struff in one hour and 33 minutes.

German Struff – ranked 16 places below his countryman in the world rankings – gave Goffin a stern test in the opening set as he fought back from 4-2 down and even wasted a set point in the 12th game.

However, Goffin broke twice in the tie-break before enjoying an easier time of it in the second set – serving 14 aces and saving five of the six break points he faced in the match to move into his second ATP Tour final.

The Belgian claimed his maiden ATP title success at the Kitzbuhel Cup last month and, after his 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win will now face Portuguese sixth seed Sousa.

A runner-up in Bastad earlier this year, Sousa also needed a first-set tie-break before eventually seeing off US Open quarter-finalist Monfils 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.

Sousa also fought back from 4-2 down to take the first set and, despite initially passing up a set-point opportunity in the tie-break, he moved ahead in the match before racing to a 4-0 lead in the second.

The world number 39 kept cool under pressure to see out the match and book a second career meeting with Goffin – having been beaten by the Belgian in the second round at the US Open recently.